Zebra mussels reach Manitoba

Manitoba’s Conservation and Water Stewardship division is implementing a rapid response after confirming that zebra mussels have found their way into the province’s waterways.

Mussels were recently found on the hull of a private boat and dock at Winnipeg Beach and on fishing boats in Gimli.

People along the Red River, Lake Winnipeg and Nelson River are being asked to watch and report any mussel findings, and to clean boats and water related equipment before moving it elsewhere. A number of other measures by the province include deploying mobile decontamination units and extending a watercraft inspection program.

Zebra mussels are the only freshwater mollusc that can firmly attach themselves to solid objects. They can clog water treatment plant intake pipes and effluent discharge pipes, as well as fouling and encrusting beaches and boats.

They were first detected in Canada in the Great Lakes in 1988, in Lake St. Clair and Windsor, Ontario.